Shelter from the Rain
by Turquoisephoenix
Summary: When Sheila finds herself trapped outside in a deadly storm with a broken leg, she finds herself saved by someone she would never suspect; the greedy Moneybags. Can they endure a few weeks together? (Be open minded about the pairing. I have my reasons.)
1. Save Me from the Storm

Shelter from the Rain

Rating: PG  
  
Author's Notes: Okay, I'm really amazing myself with this story. It isn't a lengthy epic like The Realms of Chaos, and it isn't filled with insane humor like Valentine's Day Blues. Instead, it's just the regular romance between Sheila...and Moneybags. Take a good hard look, because this is the only story of its kind because not only is Moneybags a main star without bashing, but he gets a girl too! Oo

Notes2: I'm one of those people who believes that the Forgotten Worlds are a part of the world of Avalar, maybe as a separate continent on the other side of the planet.

Anyone who flames this story is going to suffer at the hands of the Turquoise Phoenix. And, Da Dark One, piss off.

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The Forgotten Worlds were drenched in rain. The biggest storm of the century has finally hit this normally fair weather land.

Dark and heavy clouds filled with rain, thunder, and lightning showered down on the lands, causing everyone that lives in the area to flee to shelter. Creatures of every shape and size fled to their homes and sought warmth from their roaring fires. Fodder of all types scurried into their burrows, guarding their precious butterflies from an untimely death at the hands of a storm instead of a dragon. The weathermen of the Forgotten Worlds all predicted that the squall would last a few weeks. Nobody would be caught dead in a storm like this.

Nobody, that is, except for Sheila.

Sheila the kangaroo, heroine to the folks of the Forgotten Worlds, was hopelessly lost. She hopped through the stormy weather in search of her home, only to end up walking in completely unrecognizable territory altogether. She could distinguish anything from the sea of darkness in front of her face. There was no doubt about it. Sheila had found herself hopelessly lost in the storm.

'This was such a bad idea. I should've listened to Spyro...' Sheila thought to herself. In her mind, she conjured a picture of the dragon saying his last words to Sheila before she left into the seemingly calm rains. "Be careful out there, Sheila!" Spyro had said. "Sparx predicted that these rains are only going to get worse!" At that time, the kangaroo had only shrugged off the words as a subtle way of saying "Don't get too wet out there!", but now she was mentally kicking herself for ever doubting her friend.

The rain came down in buckets, drenching her brown-colored fur and spreading an unforgiving cold throughout her body. Sheila wrapped her arms around herself in a futile attempt to keep body heat as a large gust of wind blew against her, threatening to knock her over. Shivering violently, the kangaroo shouted for help against the wind and rain.  
  
"Help me!" She shouted, trying desperately to attract the attention of anyone. Only the wind greeted her. She shouted again at the top of her lungs. All she got from that was a sore throat. She lowered her head to her chest as she realized the truth. No one was out in the storm except for her, and even if there happened to be anyone out here, nobody could hear over the roaring monster that was the rainstorm.

Sheila hopped uncertainly in one direction, never seeing anywhere farther then three inches in front of her snout in the dark, wet storm. The ground underneath her soon turned into a sticky, icy slush that threatened to suck her down with each hop.

Then, she saw lights in front of her. Sheila made a wordless cry of happiness as she saw shelter from the rain. She will finally be away from this godforsaken storm! The kangaroo started to hop faster, her hopes raised by this stroke of good luck. She will make sure not to overstay her welcome as she warms up, dries her fur, and waits out the storm inside. She promised to herself that she'd pay the owner of the house back when the storm ends and the sun shines again on the Forgotten Worlds. Sheila hopped towards the light...  
  
The ground disappeared underneath her. She found herself falling straight down. Sheila had unknowingly hopped off a large cliff in her excitement. As she found herself nearing the bottom, she thought to herself, '_It can't get any worse then this. I'll just land in the mud, pull myself out, and then near the house.'_

But instead of hitting soft mud, Sheila crashed on a large boulder that was waiting for her at the bottom of the cliff.

****

CRACK!

Her left leg shattered on impact and left her immobile in the muck. The brutal, unforgiving storm blocked out her scream of pain and distress as it continued to shower large amounts of ice cold water down onto the world. Sheila whimpered as she tried to drag herself through the icy sludge towards the brightly-lit house in front of her. Daggers of pain drove themselves up from her broken leg and into her entire body, making even the simplest movement almost impossible.

'So this is how it ends. I'm to die in the mud all because I didn't listen to Spyro.' Sheila thought morbidly as she found herself too exhausted to move anymore. She lay in the mud, her fur matted down by rain and dirt, her left leg twisted into a shape that was unnatural. Tears flowed down her eyes as she realized that she was going to die here, a place of mud, rain, and pain, away from all her friends. She raised her head slowly to look at the light ahead of her, it's tantalizing warmth and shelter taunting her current position.

"Forgive me, Spyro..." Sheila said to no one in particular. As soon as the words left her lips, she closed her eyes and lapsed into darkness...

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When Sheila woke from her very short coma, the first thing she noticed was the warmth. Without opening her eyes, she could feel the faux fur blankets wrapped around her, shutting out the cold. The warm touch of a distant fire seeped through her bones and banished the ice that the storm threatened to kill her with. Her right leg was submerged in warm liquid, while her left leg was forgivingly numb.

The kangaroo slowly opened her eyes, and was greeted by the most lavish lodgings she could imagine. She was in a mansion, complete with all the furnishings only a billionaire could afford. She strained her neck to see the beautiful tapestries of dragons and knights on horseback fighting off demons from the Forgotten Worlds hanging on the walls. An opulent chandelier hung from the ceiling, sending light everywhere with its beautiful glass fixings. The walls were encrusted with gold, rubies, diamonds, emeralds, and other beautiful stones. It was like she had woken up in a fairy tale.

Sheila sitting in a plush chair, a blanket wrapped around her, her right leg in a hot tub, and her left leg in a cast that was suspended by a crutch. She never felt snugger in her life. She turned her head to look at a painted picture of a yeti being hunted for its fur when she noticed that she wasn't alone in the room.

"Oh, I see you're awake." A maid said. She was a female rhynoc wearing the traditional black and white maid's uniform. She was pleasantly plump, and she nearly radiated the aura that marked her as a caring, loving, mother-type figure. In one hand, she held a feather duster made from the feathers of a swan. In the other, she held a teapot. She rushed over to Sheila to pour more warm water into the foot soak.

"Heavens to Betsy, you sure recovered quickly. We all thought you'd be asleep for weeks, but instead you're awake in barely over two days!" The maid tittered as she filled the tub almost to the brim with warm water. Despite the fact that Sheila did her share of rhynoc-exterminating in the past, she felt humbled by this motherly worker.

"Where am I?" Sheila said, and she was surprised at how quiet and raspy her voice came out to be. She couldn't even raise her voice louder then a whisper after all the screaming she did out in the rain. The maid didn't seem to notice, as she quickly blurted out the answer.  
  
"You're in my master's mansion, my dear. He owns the biggest estate this side of Avalar!" The maid answered. Sheila found the story somewhat funny. What she had mistaken as a normal house in the storm was really a lavish mansion that some rich nobleman owned. Either she was extremely lucky to have fallen off that cliff and onto that boulder, or the storm made her so disorientated that she ended up walking in territory she wasn't familiar with. Sheila then concluded it as a mixture of both instances.

"Did you save me?" Sheila rasped. The maid didn't even look up from her dusting as she answered her.  
  
"No, my master did. He was eating dinner when all of the sudden, he rushed out of the mansion and into the harsh and brutal storm. At first we thought he had gone mad, since he went outside in that dreadful storm without even a raincoat, so we were ready to rush out after him when he rushed back in. He was fine, but he wasn't alone. He was carrying you, my darling, and from the looks of it, he had rescued you in time. Your leg was twisted so badly that the bone protruded from the skin! After he carried you in, he ordered for all of us to heat some water as he took care of you."  
  
"Who's your master?" Sheila asked. The story warmed her heart. She imagined a tall, dark prince with a rich heritage stomping out of the rain and rescuing her from an untimely death facedown in the icy mud. He must've been a prince of some sort, seeing as she didn't know anybody who would have all this wealth.  
  
But the answer that the maid gave her chilled her to the bone, despite all the blankets wrapped around her.  
  
"My master is Moneybags, my dear."

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'Why did I save that marsupial?'

Moneybags paced back and forth in his room, still wearing his cotton pajamas. He didn't feel in the mood for drinking his hot cocoa as the storm raged outside the mansion that he had bought from all the money he scammed off the good folks of Avalar. He was well aware of the fact that one of Spyro's friends was residing in his mansion in the guestroom, and without paying him a small fee either! He sat down on his lavish double-decker bed with a huff, absent-mindedly taking a sip from his mug.

What had possessed him from dashing from his cozy warm mansion and into the icy wet storm just to save a kangaroo with a broken leg? To him, Sheila was just another cuddly creature that he scammed from time to time. After all, when they first met, he was paid to make sure that she didn't escape from the Sorceress's cage. Moneybags didn't care that Sheila had an execution on the following Tuesday of her imprisonment; business was business after all. Sure, he ended up freeing her, but only because Spyro was a better provider of money then what the Sorceress could ever be. And even after he freed her, she gave him a good kick in the butt to show him whose boss.

'_But then why did I save her? Am I going soft?'_ he thought to himself. He turned to look at the left wall of his room, where the guestroom was just on the other side. This was the second time the guestroom's ever been occupied. The first time was when his nephew Minibags had to stay over for the weekend, and Moneybags was more then happy to boot the little brat out when he overstayed his welcome.

"Sir?" The maid that was helping Sheila now appeared at his doorway. With a sigh, Moneybags set down his empty mug and addressed his servant.  
  
"Martha, you're supposed to be taking care of Sheila! What's the problem?" Moneybags asked. He didn't notice that he had referred to Sheila by her real name instead of "the kangaroo", "the marsupial", or "that flea-bitten mongrel". Martha coughed hesitantly into her hand before stating the problem.

"Well, the kangaroo you saved is awake and seems to be demanding that you see her. She doesn't seem that all happy that she's lodging with you, " Martha said, none of her motherly charm showing when speaking to her employer. Moneybags wasn't all that surprised to hear that Sheila was displeased to be trapped in his mansion for the duration of the storm. After all, Spyro's friends did share the same hatred for his "work". Finally, the bear rose from his seat on his bed and told Martha to wait outside his door as he got dressed.

A few minutes later, Moneybags dressed in his normal business clothes stepped out of his room to see to his guest. Despite the fact that it went with the costume, Moneybags decided that, just for once, his trademark bag of gems should remain in his bedroom.

'What's wrong with me? That kangaroo is no different than the rest of them!' Moneybags shouted inwardly to himself. He took a deep breath. Considering the fact that the storm and the break in her leg were going to last for a few weeks, he was going to have to live with a little generosity. There was also the nasty little voice in his head telling him that he should get rid of his problem right now by just tossing her out into the storm. Listening to his "conscience" would save him a couple gems in food, first aid, and other trinkets like that, but he quickly dismissed it.

'I'll handle her company for a few weeks. It's the least I can do for our 'loving hero'.' And with that, Moneybags headed towards the guestroom.

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Sheila couldn't believe it. Her entire body was still numb from the shock.  
  
_'I owe my life to Moneybags.'_

That thought kept rushing through her mind like a virus. Her gaze kept straying back to the beautiful works of art hanging on the walls, now ugly with their buyer's deceit. This entire mansion and all its glory was paid for by the money cheated from her friends. What had seemed to be a somewhat fortunate accident was now very unfortunate indeed. She had half the mind of tearing off the blanket that was wrapped around her, taking her good foot out of the soak, and limping into the storm to brave the elements without owing anyone anything.

'I owe my life to Moneybags.'

She heard the door open. Sheila didn't realize that she was still staring at one of the tapestries as the visitor stepped into the guestroom. When she turned her head, she saw the owner of the mansion in all his infamous "wonder" as he took a seat in a chair opposite to hers. Sheila didn't notice that Moneybags no longer carried his trademark gem bag, nor did she care. She could only glare with him in raw hatred as he broke the deafening silence that he brought with his arrival.  
  
"So...Are you comfortable?" Moneybags said awkwardly in an attempt of starting out on good terms. Sheila's glare didn't waver.

"I'm not paying you any stupid fees." Sheila hoarsely demanded, sounding very hostile despite the fact that Moneybags had to strain to hear. She was wrapped in a blanket and one of her deadly legs was wrapped in a cast, but the bear was still afraid that the kangaroo would try to attack him.

"What fees?" Moneybags asked. "I never said anything about fees..." Sheila could see right through him. He was considering the new option that she had made present, and she didn't like it one bit.  
  
"Whenever we do so much as breathe in a place where you can see us, you demand for us to pay a 'small fee'. This mansion, your servants, and every last trinket you own were all from your small fees. Well, I'm not paying. I'd rather die in the rain outside then sit here any longer and owe you any gems for my unfortunate accident." She said coldly. In the background, Martha, trying to make herself as inconscpicious as possible, dusted a statue that was free of dirt so that she can hear in on their conversation without looking like she was eavesdropping.

"Look, just because I happened to be the one to save you doesn't mean that I'm going to charge you for my rescue!" Moneybags shouted loud enough for several servants outside the door to hear. Sheila could hear the shuffling of their feet against the carpet as they pressed their ears against the door, anxious to hear their boss chew out someone that wasn't them. She shook her head.

"So unlike you, Moneybags. I bet once I'm back on my feet, you'll keep me imprisoned in your ill-got mansion until I cough up my live savings. I know how you think. You didn't care that I was going to be executed by the Sorceress; you just stood by my cage shaking that blasted gem bag!" Sheila hissed.

Moneybags flinched inwardly when Sheila brought up their less-then-fortunate meeting. He felt something in his mind snap. _'I bring her hospitality, and she's bringing up the fact that I was once employed by the Sorceress?'_ Then, without warning, he yelled at Sheila with a voice that even the deceased could've heard.

"Look, Sheila! If it wasn't for me, you'd be dead! I risked my fur going out into that storm to save you, kept you warm when your body temperature was dropping below its normal region, bandaged your broken leg, and made sure that you recovered, and what do you do once you regain consciousness? You start talking about how I'm going to suck all the money out of your wallet because of my good deed. Unless you're willing to brave the elements with that leg of yours, you're to stay at my mansion as a guest until the storm dies, and you're going to accept the fact that for once in my life, I can be GENEROUS!"

The only sound that filled the room afterwards was the sound of the rain pounding against the roof. Despite himself, Moneybags could feel a tinge of guilt for yelling at someone in a cast. _'First generosity, then guilt. This isn't like me...'_

Sheila shook her head, not comprehending why such a speech of caring and generosity came from the mouth of Moneybags. "So...That means-"  
  
"-No small fees." Moneybags finished for her. He took a deep breath and absent-mindedly rubbed the back of his furry neck. "Look, I'm sorry that I yelled at you, and I'm sorry for being the one that saved you. I give my word that I won't charge you a single gem for your unfortunate accident..."

"Your word?" Sheila asked. She still didn't trust him, but all the hatred had disappeared from her. Just for this moment of time, they were at peace with each other. Maybe the weeks that will pass with her inhibited won't be so horrible. She watched as Moneybags raised his left hand and placed his right hand on his heart. _'If he has one...'_ A snide voice in her head hissed to her.

"My word. If I back down on my word, you can give me a good wallop with your feet. I'll even have Martha hold me down!" Martha looked up from her mindless dusting, surprised to hear her name. "So, what do you say? Will you keep all your hatred towards me and my business bottled up inside for a least the few weeks we're to spend together?" Moneybags was surprised to hear the pleading tone to his voice. Was he...begging to this marsupial?

Sheila rubbed her chin in thought. He did save her life, and he was promising a wallop if he backed down on his promise, so she guessed that giving him a chance couldn't hurt. She smiled sweetly and said, "You have a deal."

The deal was made, and Moneybags left the room with a clear conscience. Sheila watched him leave, the ever-annoying thought still itching in her mind as she settled herself into the warm blanket wrapped around her and fell asleep.

'I owe my life to Moneybags.'

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End of Chapter 1  
  
I'm the weirdest person alive. After writing a large 15-chapter behemoth of a fanfic, I go and write a romantic story between a bear and a kangaroo. One ticket to the loony bin please!

I guess I didn't make Sheila and Moneybags TOO out of character. I think Moneybags is more in character in here then he was in Spyro Orange, where he PAID you gems if you happened to win his mini-games (Which are pretty easy.) and he flaunted around in gypsy clothes. Oo  
  
I own only my computer, Martha, and the storm. (Which I named it the pet-name Andrew)

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	2. A Fatal Squall

Chapter 2-A Fatal Squall

Rating: PG

Author's Notes: If I receive anymore "I hate this pairing!" reviews, I'm going to stuff a squirrel into the one responsible. Good thing I'm getting mostly good reviews for this, since it's kind of unique to see a Sheila story amid all the Spyro and Ripto stories. (And yes, Moneybags is pretty much a hero in this story. Go ahead, throw your tomatoes, but he's not really a bad guy as much as he is a total jerk. He helps, just as long as there's money involved.)

Minor cameos from The Realms of Chaos appear, but it's not Wart, Changeling, or Snowflake as one might expect from me. No, instead, it's something that might just happen to explain the bad weather...

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"Do you think Sheila's out here?"

Bane said nothing, and even if he did have an answer, it was impossible to talk while he was holding a large lantern hanging between his teeth. Spyro the dragon crouched underneath him, staying pretty dry underneath the body of the giant sea dragon. Even as the storm raged on, he was pretty protected. The giant silver-scaled sea dragon that stood above him swam through sea storms regularly. To Bane, this storm was only a minor drizzle.

The purple hero was worried sick over Sheila, and the image of her trapped in a terrible place, cold and fighting off pneumonia, was enough for him to send out a search party that consisted of him, a silvery behemoth named Bane, and a giant half sea dragon, half squid monster known only as the Kraken. Bane protected Spyro's body from the elements, while Kraken scouted ahead with his tentacles feeling ahead for clues to where the kangaroo went.

'Hard to believe that we're in Sunrise Spring. This weather turns everything into a world of mud and darkness.' Spyro thought darkly as Kraken ripped a fallen tree in front of them to splinters with his sharp hull-breaking claws. "She might be at the Forgotten Alps. Do you think so, Bane?" Spyro chirped eagerly. Bane mumbled irritably between his teeth. Realizing his error, the dragon blushed slightly.

"Oh, sorry. You can't speak with that lantern in your mouth..." Spyro then squinted his eyes and scanned the area in front of him for the portal he was looking for. Thankfully, the portals glowed with a contained light of their own, making the portal to Sheila's Alp a snap to find. Without a moment's hesitation, the two sea monsters and the small purple dragon headed for the portal.

**_SPLAT!_**

When Spyro exited the portal, he hit the soft, boggy ground with his stomach. He sputtered as he found that his not-so-dramatic entrance had driven mud up his nose and down his throat. Beside him, Bane and Kraken shook the ground with their landing, since the ocean allowed them to grow to great lengths. Spyro was picked up from the ground by a tentacle that had wrapped around his tail and pulled him out of the mud.

"I don't like thisssss weather. It almosssst feelssss like you're able to sssswim through the air..." Kraken snarled, his lisp bringing out the venom in his voice. Even over the roaring of the storm, Spyro was able to hear his voice loud and clear. Which was good, since Spyro grew tired of shouting his lungs out just for them to hear him.

"Hello? Is someone out there?" A voice called. Just near the entrance the portal created was a quaint little cottage built in the mountainous region. A goat had exited the house and was holding a feeble candle out into the storm. He saw the two looming shapes in front of him, saw the sharp claws glitter in the light of the dying flame, and bleated in terror. His numbed hooves dropped his wet candle into a mud puddle and froze in place. "MONSTERS! SHEILA, HELP!"

"Hold on, Billy! It's me, Spyro!" The purple dragon called out. He waited for the goat to calm down before he asked his question. "And what was that about Sheila? Is she safe and sound?"

"N-No, she isn't. It's just that, since for the longest time Sheila's always fought our monster problems, shouting her name is sort of a re-"

"**WHERE'S SHEILA? WHAT HAPPENED TO HER? TELL ME!**" Spyro, delusional from spending too much time in the rain, seized the mountain goat by his throat and shook him wildly. Bane and Kraken could only watch in stunned silence as the dragon nearly squeezed the life out of one of Sheila's friends. Billy choked as he stared into the unyielding purple eyes of his draconic hero.

"...I-It's best if you come with me, Spyro..." the goat said after a long pause. Spyro unwrapped his claws from his throat, realizing a bit too late that heroes such as he did not attack civilians in such a matter. Billy's cream-colored fur was plastered to his body from the merciless rain. With a sigh, he stepped in one direction into the storm and beckoned for Spyro, Kraken, and Bane to follow.

After walking through the rain for about five minutes, they stopped at a pile of broken wood. "Here's Sheila's home. I'm terribly sorry." Billy sobbed. Spyro made a strangled sound as he examined the wreck that was Sheila's home. The storm had caused a landslide in the mountainous region, and the kangaroo's home was now crushed underneath several tons of rock.

"SHEILA!" Spyro screamed. He frantically rushed to the house's side and began to tear at the rock with his claws. Tears poured from his eyes as he dug deeper into the rock pile, finding personal belongings of Sheila's. A picture of her family, some coffee mugs, a bag of gems; all of them were now rendered useless thanks to the landslide.

"Please don't die, Sheila! You still have a lot of rhynocs to kick, a lot of Riptocs to smoosh, a lot of lives to make easier! Don't die, Sheila! Don't die!" Spyro cried. He broke down and started sobbing. Never once did he have one of his friends die, and now, he was standing near the grave of one of his most helpful friends.

"She's not in this house, Spyro." The dragon looked up and saw Bane, no longer carrying the lantern, paw at the earth near the house with his finned claws. "Trust me. If she was in this house while it got flattened, there would've been a fresh carcass underneath here. But no, all we see is her broken possessions." Bane lifted a stuffed animal and sniffed at it tenderly. "She was here, but not at the time the landslide fell."

"You sure?" Spyro asked, feeling a little bit silly that he was crying over nothing. He could almost jump for joy if it wasn't for the fact that the sticky mud he was standing in was now up to his knees.

"Yesss....We're sssure. Sssince the kangaroo isssn't here, I don't find any reassson for usss to be ssstanding out here in thisss ssstorm..." The Kraken snarled. Bane seconded the notion, and Spyro, whose legs were beginning to numb, quickly agreed.

As the two sea dragons led Spyro to the portal, the purple dragon gave one last look at the shattered remains of Sheila's home. His friend had escaped death as much as he knew, but where was she now? Spyro looked up into the ink black sky, watched the angry clouds spill forth their unrelenting tears, and added some parting words before he entered the portal.

"I hope you're still alive, Sheila. By the dead Elders, I hope..."

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Sheila sat wrapped in gossamer blankets on that comfy chair that she had woken up to find herself on a day or two ago. She wrinkled her brow as she watched the rain fall down in buckets outside. It was hard to believe that she had to stay in this godforsaken mansion until her leg healed, and Martha said it could just as easily take weeks. For this moment of time, the kangaroo wished dearly that she had one of her friends to carry her away from this place so that she could heal in the comfort of her own home. Spyro, Billy, Sgt. Byrd...she didn't care who saved her, just as long as it wasn't Moneybags.

'Look on the bright side, Sheila. At least he isn't demanding any outrageous fees or locking you in a cage.' she thought to herself. In fact, she found it downright puzzling that Moneybags insisted that no charge was put upon her rescue. Maybe he was just frightened of her and her fighting prowess. But then again, her most powerful weapon happened to be the strength in her kick, and without both of her legs, she was immobilized.

Was he afraid of her friends? Possible, but no. Even when knocked the stuffing out of, Moneybags would always return to his business as if nothing happened. He even made a profit out of teleporting between different lands during the fiasco with Red.

"I think Sir Moneybags has taken a liking to you." Martha cooed, interrupting Sheila's quandary. The Australian animal watched as the rhynoc poured some more remedy soup into a bowl. Sheila had no idea what time it was in the mansion, since Moneybags forgot to put a clock in the guest room, but she was pretty sure that she had wasted three days of her life as a guest to him.

"Yeah, he's taken a liking to my wallet." Sheila retorted. Her voice had recovered, thanks to the soothing broth that she was forced to swallow. It gave her strength, but she was sick of drinking her food.

"I'm not so sure. I mean, he did save you, and he did keep you from-"

"It's a scam. I know it, you know it, and everyone else in the whole ruddy mansion knows it." She interrupted venomously. The power to speak gave her a lot more freedom with Moneybags' assistants. She was still unable to move without help from someone, since the cold had weakened her physically, but her tongue was as sharp as it was before this unfortunate accident. In fact, she had abused her gift of speech so much that only Martha had the strength to talk to her. All the other servants had retreated to easier jobs.

"Give him time, Sheila." The rhynoc could only say. She was glad that the stimulating brew was working on the kangaroo, but she felt just a little afraid that Sheila would try to last out at her and cause herself harm. Oh well. If anything happens, she could always call in "Sheila's Savior" to take care of matters.

"For what? Why don't you just spit it out, instead of beating around the bush?" Sheila demanded.

Realizing that Sheila wasn't going to do any harm, Martha giggled like a schoolgirl, and blurted it out. "I think you and Moneybags would make a cute couple!"

For about five seconds, the only sound in the entire room was the sound of the water boiling. "WHAT!?" Sheila shouted. Even though there was a small part of her, probably the craziest and most desperate part of her, liked the idea, the kangaroo protested against it. "If you think that me and Moneybags even belong in the same room together, then you have something unhealthy lodged in your brain!" And then, Sheila made the mistake of trying to reach for the farthest cup of tea on the table.

Several things happened at once. Sheila had leaned too far from her seat, causing her to tumble onto the table in front of her. The tea pots and the bowls of broth shattered on impact from the sudden weight, and spattered their liquid everywhere. The table gave way, and the golden-furred kangaroo found herself on her back, covered in tea and soup, with several porcelain shards imbedded in her fur. She seethed silently to herself. _'Two falls in one week. Where did all this bad luck come from?'_

As if that wasn't enough, the sound of the crash caused the owner of the mansion to burst through the door. "What's going on-" Moneybags saw Sheila lying stomach up in a widening puddle of dark liquid with pieces of fine china stuck in her, and immediately got the wrong idea. "MARTHA! I told you to take care of her, not murder her!"

Martha could only babble mindlessly, still stunned by the suddenly of the situation around her. Sheila, on the other hand, forgot about her disability for just that moment. She tried to stand up as she confronted the greedy ursine. "I'm not dead yet, but I'm just about ready to murder-AHH!" She felt back forward with a splat, landing on the wet carpet. She groaned as the ever-familiar pain of her accident shot up through her entire body.

"Here, let me help you back up. It's still too soon to apply pressure to that leg of yours." Almost without realizing it, Moneybags was at her side. Sheila leaned on his shoulder so that she could stand on her good leg, but she quickly swatted him away.

"No, no. I'm fine. I just fell, that's all." Sheila insisted, adopting a more peaceful tone for the moment. She stood there, wobbling precautiously on her one good foot. Even with her tail for balance, she was pretty useless on one foot.

"Sheila, let me-"

"I SAID I'M JUST FINE!" She cried viciously. Sheila's bad foot flew out behind her as she lost her balance from moving too fast. Moneybags caught her instantly to keep her from hurting herself further. He held on until Sheila had regained her balance on her one good foot. Only then did he notice their position. Her arms were wrapped around his neck, and his were around her waist. They gazed at each other for a moment, their noses almost touching. Moneybags saw a pinkish tint flood her furry cheeks, and felt his own face flushing.

'Wow. Her eyes are the color of the purest emeralds...' "You should be more careful, Sheila. I don't want you to break your other leg." Moneybags found will to speak first.

'His fur is so soft and warm...' "Well, you shouldn't have pushed me." Sheila retorted. Searing pain began to drive up her leg as a reminder that it was far from being healed. She winced as the pain spread throughout her body.

"Let me walk you back to your bed." He said after another hiatus of silence. Sheila nodded, and let herself be carried to the soft goose-down bed in the guestroom. He even took the time to wrap her up in warm blankets while setting her leg in a way so it wouldn't be disturbed. As he did so, the buttinski rhynoc maid watched them as she mopped up the mess Sheila made with a sponge.

"You're too kind." Sheila tried to make her reply sarcastic, and was surprised at the soft tone to her voice. For a while, none of them spoke. Sheila dug herself deeper into the bed, and Moneybags pulled a medical needle out of his pocket. Even though he was squeamish around needles, the marsupial insisted of having her medicine injected so that it worked immediately.

"This will help soothe the pain and make sleep easier." He parted a small patch of Sheila's fur with his fingers, revealing the pale and almost vulnerable skin underneath. Turning away from the scene, he punctured the skin with the fine needle and injected the clear liquid into her bloodstream.

"Sweet dreams, Sheila." And without another word, Moneybags left the guestroom. Sheila could only smile weakly, and then, with a sigh, she closed her eyes and let the medicine do its work.

--------------------------------------------

When the bear walked into his bedroom, he had thought he had escaped the situation that happened in the guestroom. He found out he was wrong when he heard a voice say, "You sure are a sly one, Sir Moneybags. These weeks indoors won't be such a burden after all!" The owner of the mansion grumbled in defeat as he saw the persistent maid Martha sitting on his bed, still holding a tea-soaked sponge in her hand.

"Nothing happened, okay? If anything, I have to pay extra for the table and the porcelain she broke!" When Moneybags became frustrated, he would often let his arguments stray to his money. After all, it was expected of him.

"I saw something spark between you two when you gazed into each other's eyes. It was so sweet to stop her from falling!"

"No, nothing happened. In case you haven't noticed, we're not in one of those romance novels you like to read..."

"Those romance novels are based off of real life experiences, and are you sure that nothing happened?"

"Yes."

"Do I hear a hint of hesitat-"

"**NOTHING HAPPENED! QUIT STICKING YOUR HORN INTO OTHER PEOPLE'S BUSINESS!"**

"Oooh. Defensive, aren't we?"

Moneybags growled irritably, sounding for once in his life like a grizzly bear, as he found himself losing the verbal battle. '_When this storm is over, I'm going to fire that maid.'_ he thought maliciously. Then, with a sigh, he slumped his shoulders and admitted, "Okay, maybe something did happen..."

"I knew it! This is perfect! Soon, there will be dates, then proposals, then a marriage, then a honeymoon, and finally, a mansion full of kids! It's like a fantasy come true!" Martha cooed.

"Err, isn't that going a teensy bit ahead of the situation?" Moneybags questioned. Sure, he could admit the small crush on Sheila, but Martha lost him with the mention of marriages and kids. Moneybags was still fairly young for his kind, and an heir to the mansion's great fortune was the least of his worries.

"Do something nice for her, Sir. I'm sure she'll appreciate it..." Martha said, changing the subject. "Lying around in bed or on that chair probably isn't the most exciting of entertainments for the young lady. Make it inexpensive, since you and I both know that you're...careful with your money. A nice dinner, maybe."

"In case you haven't noticed, she was exposed to the storm while she had an open wound on her leg. I don't think she's fit to eat anything high-class like _filet mignon_ yet." Moneybags said frankly.

"Well, think of something, for Elders' sake! You can be creative. After all, you did know which bridges would hinder Spyro's progress if they were to go out."

Moneybags considered the option. "Okay, if I were to do something nice for Sheila, would you leave me alone for the rest of the storm? You're starting to drive me nuts." Martha took that as a hint to leave, so she rose from her seat and walked out the door, her hands pruny from clutching something wet during a long conversation. The rich bear didn't even have time to slip into pajamas. He just flopped on his bed, rather dissatisfied at the situation he had gotten himself into.

"Avalarian Elders above, what did I do to deserve this?"

--------------------------------------------

A debt will be paid...

In the everlasting storm, a giant creature rushed through the rain. It was unfazed by the water soaking its dirty white fur as it galloped through the mud with a feral grace. In fact, where it surrounded the creature, the storm got worse. A canine head with sharp teeth too big for its mouth howled into the obscured sky, but its call was not of the lonely words of the other animals trapped in the storm. Its song was that of pure happiness.

No shelter from the rain will protect my victims...

Suddenly, the monster stopped when its senses caught something. The storm seemed to lead right to its target, for a lightning bolt illuminated the sky just as its line of sight spotted a meal in the rain. Red eyes glowed as the giant monster found something to satisfy its blood lust. A group of rabbits, caught in the rain, huddled together for warmth. Yellowed teeth grinned when it heard the squeal of a young kit just a few weeks old sheltering itself with its mother's warm fur. Lightning crackled around the group.

I am the storm. No one survives me.

In a flash of white fur, the monster struck. The sound of thunder and rain blocked out the hideous sound of bones crushed underneath powerful jaws. The last thing any one of the rabbits saw was something that looked like a freakish mix between a yeti and a wolf. Any blood that hit the ground instantly diluted in the rain. Its belly full, it looked down upon the single kit now orphaned by his cruel murder. The baby rabbit gazed up with sorrow-filled eyes, into the eyes of a monster that towered over it easily. With a high-pitched yelp of terror, the bunny bolted.

_No one._

A bolt of lightning flashed, and the bunny fell dead. The monster laughed. After all, now that the Silver Gigas Crystal was imprisoned in its rightful place, there was no need to stay with it. Now, the creature chose what it wanted to do. The fallen Guardian picked up the singed meat with its jaws and ate it tenderly.

_My very name is deprived from the storm. I can summon the most powerful storm. I alone control this storm, and I will choose who lives or dies._

The wolf monster looked in the direction in which is sought. Even from miles away, it could see the mansion of Moneybags. The Guardian's muzzle wrinkled when it thought of how one life it chose to sacrifice became saved by the unforeseen kindness of a very unkind heart. The monster wanted Sheila to die a slow, painful death for interfering with its former master's plans. The kangaroo had even fought against the monster herself when its master summoned it against her. One red eye still couldn't see as clearly thanks to that godforsaken marsupial.

I promise you Sheila, you will die. I will continue following you until your shelter from the rain is destroyed and the storm shall claim your life...

My name is the storm. I am the storm. The storm will last as long as I allow it to.

My name is Squall.

--------------------------------------------

End of Chapter 2

No, Squall is not deprived from Final Fantasy 8. Squall really does mean storm; look it up in the dictionary if you don't believe me, you FF8 boobs. P Now remember, I own Bane, Kraken, Squall, and Martha, but all the other characters belong to Universal. I probably own the Sheila/Moneybags pairing as a whole, as I was the one to bring it to life...


	3. Secrets Brought Forth

Secrets Brought Forth

Rating: PG

Author's Notes: Call this what I write while I'm figuring out a decent plot for a big sequel for a big fanfic. This will only be about 5 chapters long, so don't think it'll be as big as TRoC.

KTGreenstripe helped me with this chapter. She is very helpful. Oh, and sorry for taking so long. I was too busy relaxing during the Christmas break. Please don't throw any sharp objects at me.

--------------------

Three more days had passed since the incident with the coffee table, and now Sheila felt almost like herself again. There was still the matter with her broken leg, but she could feel her strength returning at a rapid pace. Now, she was able to hobble to places in the guestroom on clutches instead of clinging on to the shoulder of a maid or Moneybags.

Now she sat on the windowsill of the grand two-story window that sat in front of her. She watched the unwavering storm soak the outside, and she could feel a shiver down her spine when she remembered the grueling pain she suffered out there. In fact, she was so engrossed at the icy cold darkness that she nearly jumped out of her skin when a hand touched her shoulder.

"Sorry to startle you, dear." The kangaroo immediately relaxed when she heard Martha's voice. Just as she said the last word of her sentence, Sheila thought she heard the sound of a wolf howling in the darkness of the night, a sound that drove another round of shivers down her spine. '_My mind's playing tricks on me. I must be going crazy hanging out with my worst enemies.' _Sheila thought to herself.

"Oh, hello Martha." Sheila replied rather listlessly.

Martha looked at her suspiciously. "What's the matter, dear?" She asked as she wrapped clean bandages around Sheila's leg.

Sheila sighed. As much as she wanted to announce her feelings to anybody, 'I keep hearing things outside' or 'I'm sick and tired of being stuck in this darn mansion' wasn't the best of things to reply to a maid of Moneybags. So, she made up a topic at the top of her head just to start polite conversation.

"Oh, nothing. I was just wondering why Moneybags is so money-hungry." Sheila lied. Just as long as she was in his household, she might as well learn some secrets to what makes his mind tick. "I mean, what made him to become what he is? He knows that everyone hates him for it, and yet he continues to beg for gems as if blissfully unaware of what people think."

Martha sighed as she poured a cup of piping hot tea for the patient. "Well, Moneybags' childhood wasn't at all good." She said to the kangaroo. Sheila, realizing she hit a tender spot in the rhynoc's heart, sipped hesitantly at her drink as she leaned against some soft cushions propped up near the window.

"Really? What happened to him?" Sheila asked. She was about to add something snide like _'Did he lose his allowance in a gutter?'_ but to her surprise, no sarcastic words would come out of her mouth. It was like she really cared about him after all.

"Ummm...He doesn't really like me to tell anyone. In fact, he doesn't really like the fact that I know at all." Martha said. She turned and started to walk to the other side of the room, trying to avoid the topic altogether. But Sheila wouldn't pass up an opportunity like this.

"I promise I won't tell anyone else. Just tell me. I just need to know!" Sheila shouted. In the back of her mind, she was very surprised that she meant every word that came out of her mouth.

Martha admitted defeat with a sigh. She knew that if she had to answer the guest now before she got persistent. Reluctantly, the rhynoc took a seat on the windowsill and set the teapot down on a pillow between them. Martha waited until she was absolutely sure no one outside could overhear them, and then answered in a soft but clear voice.

"Well, okay. You see, Moneybags' family didn't own this mansion for many generations like he wants everyone to believe. In reality, Moneybags was actually very poor when he was little..."

"He was poor? I find that a little hard to believe!" Sheila replied. She gave Martha a skeptical look. "Are you sure you're not lying?"

"No, but it's true! His family just lived in a tent in some kind of community of poor people with only scraps to eat. He never ate lunch in school since his parents never did have any money to give him. Even if they would give him money, which would be a very rare event that happened when his family got lucky, bullies would always steal it from him."

"That's terrible!"

"Yeah, it is. Anyways, one day when he had money to get lunch from school, the bullies came up to him and asked for money again. This time, however, Master Moneybags had enough of having the very few cents to his name taken from him. He stood up for himself and refused. The bullies became angry and began to beat him to a pulp. Once Moneybags was unconscious and bleeding rather badly, they took his money and left him in the gutters. Thank goodness a good Samaritan came along and brought him to the hospital to heal before he could die on the streets."

"So, is that why Moneybags is money-hungry?" Sheila asked. The story chilled her to the bone, despite the fact there was a roaring fire in the furnace. Her mind wanted her to devalue the story as false, but she knew that Martha wasn't lying. The kangaroo felt bad, but she knew for a fact that even if Spyro and her friends knew about this story, they wouldn't feel sorry for Moneybags because of how big of a jerk he was.

Martha nodded in response. The rhynoc then explained with a crisp, clear voice. "Yeah, and when he grew he became rich. He's now very scared about even losing one gem thanks to that incident!"

Sheila thought to herself as she sipped some more of her tea. The warm brew gave back some of the warmth that the story stole from her bones. '_Wow, I feel sorry for him_. _I mean, we've all had bully problems when we were joeys, but he grew up without a cent to his name..._' She glanced back at the lavish walls of the guest rooms and once again studied the trinkets he acquired from his vast amount of riches.

Just when Sheila was about to add something to the conversation, the owner of the mansion burst through the doors. Martha and Sheila both glanced at each other, almost fearful of the fact that he may have overheard. Luckily, Moneybags' concerns lay elsewhere. "Martha, rain is dripping in the kitchen, and the chef has been whining about it for the last fifteen minutes. Erm, what were you two talking about?"

The rhynocian maid smiled casually and rose to her feet. "Oh nothing. I'll get the leak in the kitchen fixed right away, Sir."

Sheila watched as Moneybags and Martha left the room. She returned to her original task of looking out of the window and gazing at the sheer danger of what lay outside. Again she heard the wolf's howl, but it didn't even cross her mind as she thought of different things.

"Moneybags' life was horrible! I feel sorry for him." She said to herself after a while. When she realized what she said, she gave a forced chuckle and replied to her own statement. "Gee, those are the last five words I would apply to Moneybags. But then again, this whole stay in his mansion has changed my views toward him."

"I wonder how my mates are doing in this godforsaken rain?"

------------

Meanwhile, Squall was still roaming the flooded land. His paws didn't even sink into the icy cold slush as he padded through the storm of his creation. He killed every living thing trapped in the rain, be it fodder, faun, or rhynoc. Their screams of pain and anguish were always blocked out by the storm's savage roar. Squall didn't give a single thought to their bodies as he bounded through the rain. Fodder were eaten whole, but rhynocs and fauns were eaten in a way so that there was a gaping hole exposed to the elements where their stomachs were. Not even the powerful rain could block out the stark white that was the bones of Squall's victims.

Just as the wolf Guardian was finishing off the meal of an unlucky Glimmer mouse, he saw the mansion in front of him. Again he snarled at the mansion like a guard dog that had just caught the smell of a thief. How he wanted to tear that foundation to the ground and flatten the kangaroo and her savior in one swoop, but what was left of his chivalry kept him from doing so. Squall didn't want Sheila to be free of her torture that quick. No. She was to suffer slowly until she wanted to commit suicide from all the pain running through her body.

"I see you, Sheila. You think you're so cozy in your shelter from the rain. Too bad you can run from me." Squall snarled. He sloshed through the mud until he was close enough to see Sheila's face. She was staring right at him, but she couldn't see the monster that hid in the storm. Her eyesight was built for calm weather; Squall's was built to see in stormy.

"You cannot run from the storm!"

The last letters of "storm" turned into a savage howl as Squall summoned thunder and lightning from the heavens. At that very instant, Squall's form became visible to Sheila's eyes and finally she knew just what caused this storm and what caused her leg to break. Squall took pride in her frightened expression; it was the very expression that Squall lived for. Let the other Guardians help others in their quest for happiness and brotherhood; Squall was the master of both death and fear!

The lightning hit the mansion just as Sheila turned to call for Martha. The lights flickered on and off in every room of the estate as the lightning conjured by the monster did its work. Martha, like everyone else, was caught off guard by the thunderbolt and fell to the floor. Shelia grabbed the solid edge of the windowsill as the entire place shook like it was caught in the middle of an earthquake.

"WHAT'S GOING ON?!" Martha shouted as she tried to rise to her feet during the quake. Just as she was in a proper standing position, a dislodged vase from one of the opulent shelves in the guest room landed right on her head and knocked her out cold.

Sheila heard the rhynoc's cut-off cry, but she wouldn't dare keep her eyes off the window. Even though darkness swallowed up the threat of the storm again, she still stared outside for a second glimpse of Squall. But then the magic-induced earthquake began to increase in power and Sheila was knocked backwards off the window sill and onto the floor, unable to move.

Just then, Moneybags was able to walk into the guestroom while the rumbling continued. "What's happening? What's going on?! _Why is Martha lying on the floor like that_?"

"I don't-**WATCH OUT!!!"**

Several things happened at once. Just as Moneybags was able to stumble into the center of the room, the chandelier dislodged itself from the ceiling and plummeted to the floor. The kangaroo responded almost instantly by pushing herself off the floor with her one good leg in a grandiose leap. She collided with the owner of the mansion. Moneybags tumbled out of harm's way in the nick of time, but the chandelier landed right on top of Sheila's bandaged leg. 

**"AAAAHHHHHHHH! MY LEG! MY LEG! MY LEG!"**

Almost miraculously, the shaking subsided. Moneybags rose to his feet, considered the great amount of gems he had to pay in order to fix the damages, and then noticed the giant heap of twisted metal and wires right where Sheila need to heal the most. Immediately he rushed to her aide. The chandelier, while very bulky, was easy enough to slide off Sheila's bandaged leg for a bear like Moneybags. Trying not to look at the twisted mess that was Sheila's leg, Moneybags helped her up.

"What were you thinking, Sheila? You could've been killed! You shouldn't have done that!"

Sheila glared at him as she winced in pain. Her voice was barely a whisper from all the pain welling up in her body, but Moneybags could hear her just fine as the mansion was deathly quiet after such a sudden earthquake. "Hello! I just saved your life!"

Moneybags looked down at her leg again. It was now as bad as it was when he discovered her in the rain. The bandages were starting to peel off her leg, revealing the more ghastly details on her wounds. More then a week's worth of healing was wasted thanks to a freak earthquake. At this rate, she'll never heal in time.

"I guess we need to replace those bandages if we want you to heal before next year, Sheila." He said rather carefully. Sheila said nothing, but gave a small nod. Moneybags set her down on a chair and called for the attention of Martha, who just woke up from her short coma with a splitting headache.

"Yes...oww...Master Moneybags?" Martha replied as she felt the swelling bump on her head with her fingers. She gave a little squeak of terror when she saw the heap of twisted metal in the center of the room, but she was grateful that everyone was safe.

"Do we have more bandages? We have to care for Sheila's leg. The bandages peeled off and the chandelier broke what we mended." Moneybags described.

"Sorry, Master Moneybags. I was fairly sure that today was the last day she would have to be in bandages, so I put the last ones on her today. We don't have any more..." Martha replied sadly. She winced as she applied an icepack to her head. "There's nothing we can do until the rain stops."

Moneybags said nothing. He glanced at Sheila's leg, at Martha's empty First Aid kit, and then at the stormy weather depicted through the window. A crazy idea formed in his head as he stared at the tempest raging outside. They had no bandages, but he knew of a place that did. "Martha, fetch my raincoat. There's a house of healers not to far from here-"

"Are you nuts!? It's suicidal outside!" Sheila shouted immediately. "My leg is not worth killing yourself out there!"

Martha placidly agreed. "I have to agree with her, Sir. You can't go out!"

"Well, desperate times call for desperate measures! Now, don't let anyone stop me!" Moneybags took his raincoat off the coat rack, since Martha didn't bother to fuel his foolish plot. With enough money to pay for the expenses of the best healer's potions and bandages, the bear reached for the door. The rhynoc maid tried once again to coerce him out of it.

"But Mast-"

"THAT'S AN ORDER!" Moneybags immediately barked. Martha and Sheila were both stunned by this sudden change of emotions. They watched as he opened the door with great difficulty against the wind, stepped outside, and let the wind shut the door behind him.

Sheila signaled for Martha to take her to the giant windowsill she was sitting on not to long ago. She watched as he disappeared from view in the rain, and remembered all the kindness he showed to him. Before this incident, she would've been more then happy to see Moneybags die a horrible death in a giant rainstorm, but now, she wanted him back where it was safe. Martha took a seat on the windowsill as well.

"Oh, I pray to the Elders that he'll be all right!" Martha cried out. Sheila could only nod as she watched the rainstorm in sadness.

"You and me both, Martha. You and me both."

-------

What was once the greediest and cheapest creature in all of The Forgotten Worlds now was walking against the wind and rain just for the sake of someone else. A week ago, Moneybags wouldn't even think about risking his neck for someone else, but now that he had a kangaroo with a broken leg lodging in his mansion, he was going to brave the elements to help her.

The icy cold water that poured from the heavens soaked through his raincoat and bit at his skin. The mud sank up to his knees and filled his shoes with the frozen slush. Moneybags groaned to himself when he lost all feeling in his toes from the bad weather.

_'Why am I doing this? I should turn back right now, bind that kangaroo's legs up with some newspaper or something, and warm up by the fire.'_ He thought to himself as he fought against the gale. The thought did seem rather tempting; he didn't need the best bandages in the world to bind up a broken bone, and wading around in mud wasn't a smart idea at all.

But then he remembered how selfless Sheila was when she saved him from the falling chandelier, and how it cost her a nearly mended leg. He remembered the horrible look of her wounds, and then at how she cared about him when he threatened to rush out of the storm.

_'No! I'm not turning back! This is for Sheila's good, and for once in my life, I'm going to be nice and do a good deed like Spyro!'_ he convinced himself. And then, he forced himself to trudge through the mud towards the destination of the healer's house. Nothing was going to stop him in his quest for new bandages!

_**RIIIIP!** _

Moneybags looked down and saw that his black tuxedo was caught in a bush branch. With a annoyed growl, he pulled on his coat and it ripped off. Moneybags groaned when he saw the hideous scar that marred his trademark clothing.

"The price I have to pay to do a good deed." He was about to walk again in the direction of the healer's house, but then a sickening truth came to him. Every direction in the rain looked the same now. He sunk into the mud in defeat, his eyes threatening to shed tears. Not only did he not have the things necessary to bind Sheila's leg, but the rain also blocked the way home in a blackish-brown void of nothing. It was like the world had ended, and Moneybags was the only miserable survivor.

"Walking outside of my mansion was a bad idea. I'm wet, I ripped a hole in my tuxedo, my shoes are filled with mud, I don't have the bandages for Sheila, and I'm lost! What can happen next?!" Moneybags shouted to no one in particular.

He didn't realize that he had spoken to soon until he heard a suspicious roaring sound. When he turned his head to the direction of the noise, he saw a large tornado heading straight towards his path. It was giant whirlwind of mud and fallen tree branches that sucked everything in its path. Thunder and lightning he could've handled, but a tornado was way out of his league.

"Great. The entire world is against me!" Moneybags shouted as he broke into a run. But since mud wasn't the best running surface in the world, the bear could only run a few feet before falling over in the icy wet mud. When he realized that there was no chance that he could outrun it, he fell to the ground and shouted to the sky for forgiveness.

"I knew I should've listened to Sheila!" He shouted as he waited for the end. Just when it looked like that the cyclone would engulf him, it stopped mere inches from his feet. Moneybags looked at the windstorm in happiness, as if he couldn't believe how lucky he was, until a shape emerged from the tornado. It took the form of a savage wolf-like creature that was the Guardian of the Silver Gigas Crystal. Moneybags turned to run, but a gust of wind knocked him towards Squall. The wolf gave Moneybags a confident grin, letting him know that there was nowhere to run from the master of the storm.

"W-what do you w-want from me?" The bear stammered.

Squall grinned with teeth caked in blood. Moneybags shivered when he noticed that the very spot both Squall and he were standing wasn't being drenched in rain. In fact, the air seemed a lot warmer and it made the bear almost happy to feel this kind of coziness from outside. However, there was the fact that he was standing in the company of a giant wolf that he knew he couldn't outrun.

"I was figuring we can make a deal. A small fee, you would say." Squall spoke politely through sharp teeth. He grabbed the rip on Moneybags' tuxedo with his hooked claws and pulled him until their snouts were touching. Moneybags recoiled from the horrible stench of decay on Squall's breath. "You have something I want, and I will be willing to pay a Guardian's sum for it. And don't act like you don't have her hiding in your mansion, because I saw her staring out your window!"

The bear instantly knew what Squall wanted. "Sheila."

"So, you're smarter then most people take you for!" Squall chuckled. "All you have to do is name your sum and I'll take Sheila from your hands...forever."

"Never! You're not getting Sheila!" Moneybags retorted. All of Squall's good humor left him. With a snarl, the wolf slapped Moneybags with his right claw and sent him sprawling in the mud with his face facing towards the dark sky. The wolf guardian then pinned him down and pushed him deeper into the mud as he argued with the bear.

"Listen here, you greedy _worm_! I know that your heart is as black as mine! I can give you as many gems as you want, or so help me, I'll tear down your mansion to splinters and drag Sheila out screaming. And if it comes to that, I'll drag you along as well. The storm will never stop until I have Sheila." Squall snapped. Moneybags had to spit out rainwater and mud from his mouth to reply to him.

"You control this storm?" The owner of the mansion replied. Squall grinned as if satisfied with his destruction upon the Forgotten Worlds.

"I can make the rain fall as long as I like to. It can last a week, or it can last eighteen years. And, I can concentrate my magic into smaller areas. Unless you surrender Sheila to me, your mansion will sink down into the muddy bog where it belongs. Every last gem, every last treasure, gone with the mud."

Squall liked the expression on Moneybags' face. It was one filled with pain and fear, the very emotions that he craved the most. Soon that kangaroo will be tossed out of the mansion faster then he can say "cheapskate".

"What price will you pay? An entire mansion of wealth, your home, and everything you earned during your lifetime, or some pathetic kangaroo from the mountains?" Squall asked. He pushed Moneybags deep enough in the mud that he started to choke.

Moneybags went limp underneath his claws. "Okay...I'll take your offer...Just, just..."

"Just, what?" Squall queried.

"Don't tell her I'm doing this...I...I"

"Love her?" The words came out of the wolf's mouth as an rather amused growl. Moneybags gave an awkward nod, and the monster howled in laughter. The weather, in response to the monster's mood, flared up with lightning bolts.

"Only a slug would love a creature as greedy, as heartless, and as rich in fat as you. You just put a price-tag on her, and now, in three days, I'm going to come for her body and she can live a life of torture at my claws knowing that the very guy who saved her would step aside to let the same monster that maimed her in storm reclaim her." Squall lifted his feet off of Moneybags' torso so that the bear could rise out of the mud.

"So, you'd best develop a relationship with her now, because the clock is ticking." And with those words, the giant wolf bounded into the darkness and the rain washed away any traces of Squall ever being there. Moneybags sat all alone in the mud, his heart heavy with the deed he had just done.

He sold Sheila to the Sorceress and looked away when there was an execution date, and yet now, she was much more important to her. Squall had directed him to the mansion when he chased him with the tornado, but that still didn't satisfy him one bit. Sheila now belonged to a greedy monster, and there was no way anyone could do a thing about it.

_'Unless...'_ Moneybags thought to himself. His mind strayed back to when Spyro would brag about all the ingenious ways he would defeat undefeatable enemies in amazing feats of strength of agility. Was there a way to defeat Squall too?

A new feeling pumped through his blood. The bear stood up on his feet, glared in the direction of where Squall headed, and felt his conscience take control. He was find some way, any way, to defeat that monster. Even if it costs a thousand gems!

_'Or my life...'_ Bile rose to his throat when he remembered those blood-caked teeth, those flesh-ripping claws, and his eagerness to kill. Moneybags couldn't kill anything even if he wanted to, and Squall was too big of a force to reckon with. He thought of those claws ripping through him like a hot knife through butter, but then he thought about Sheila being dragged out of his mansion and to her death.

There had to be a way, but what?

Suddenly, the very thing that provided him with the most help from monsters and money to help pay for expenses throughout the years formed at the back of his throat. He needed a monster to fight, and he happened to know the best monster-fighter in the realms.

"Spyro."

**--------------------**

**End of Chapter 3**

**Once again, sorry for OOCness in Sheila and Moneybags. I own only Martha and Squall in this chapter, and KTGreenstripe receives credit for most of the dialogue in this chapter. Give her a round of applause for being such a great help!**

**Spyro will appear in the next chapter. Sorry that he's missing in action.**


End file.
